Aussie mums crack 30-year average

KNOWING her beau since high school meant Toowoomba nuclear medicine technician Liz Brettschneider was asked plenty of times since graduation when she was having kids, but holding off was the only choice as far as she and Ben were concerned.

The couple are among a growing demographic that recently caused the average age of Aussie mums to finally crack the 30-year mark.

While both wanted to get careers sorted and a mortgage under their belt before having kids, it wasn't really their major motivation for waiting.

"I don't think it was necessarily the whole career thing and house thing, but even with a really modest mortgage it's pretty impossible these days to live off just one income," she said.

"My career is really important to me though. I studied to get where I am and I enjoy my job and the flexibility they allow me with the kids.

"When we did decide to have kids, we joked about getting a sports car instead, but it was more a case of looking at the situation and deciding that we could get to 50 and really regret not having kids, but we couldn't imagine getting to 50 and regretting having had them.

"I was then told at 27 that I may have trouble conceiving, so we decided to start early just in case and I fell pregnant pretty well straight away."

Four months ago at age 30, Liz and Ben welcomed Emily, little sister to Gabby, and they both believe their maturity and confidence made life easier.